Tillerson says will give Trump several options on Iran nuclear deal

Reuters

12 d ago

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department will give President Donald Trump several options regarding the Iran nuclear deal ahead of the Oct. 15 deadline to certify whether Tehran is complying with the pact, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday.

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Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif has bashed President Donald Trump ahead of what looks certain to become a showdown over the legacy of former President Barack Obama's top foreign policy achievement — the Iran deal.

Zarif, a key architect of the 2015 accord, gave an interview to Politico that shed light on the fraught multilateral discussions the US, Europe, and Iran hold over the continued recertification of the Iran deal — and according to Zarif, Europe is taking his side.

Trump campaigned vigorously on the idea of ripping up the 2015 deal that prohibits Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons, but since he came into office he has paid relatively little attention to the agreement, instead focusing on North Korea's burgeoning, unchecked nuclear advances .

But Trump has not forgotten his convictions.

Every 90 days the US has to confirm that Iran has complied with the terms of the deal. For the first six months of Trump's presidency, he has gone through with the procedure, albeit begrudgingly, according to the Associated Press .

Reports, citing sources in the administration and the State Department, said Trump has been looking for a way out of the deal by drumming up " foolproof intelligence " that Iran has violated the deal.

But Trump and his understaffed State Department have reportedly strained relationships in Europe, and weakened the US's credibility. Trump himself announced his intention to exit the deal even without evidence of wrongdoing on Iran's part.

"If it was up to me, I would have had them noncompliant 180 days ago," Trump told the Wall Street Journal of the Iran deal .

Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images

Now Zarif, who is by all accounts very good at his job, seems to have capitalized on Trump's haste.

"The Europeans have made it very clear to us and to the United States that they intend to do their utmost to ensure survival of the deal," Zarif told Politico .

Even beyond Europe, who may differ with the US on certain issues but shouldn't be expected to drift too far out of the US's sphere of influence, Zarif pointed out that exiting the Iran deal could have major consequences for the US around the world.

"Look at the message that you are sending to the world," Zarif said. Withdrawing from the Iran deal "would make it tougher for anybody to believe and rely upon the United States—anybody, not just North Korea. You’ve seen US allies saying that the United States is not a reliable partner.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday the United States should consider staying in the Iran nuclear deal unless it were proven Tehran that was not abiding by the agreement or that it was not in the U.S. national interest to do so.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday broke with the position President Donald Trump has taken against the 2015 Iran nuclear deal during testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Asked by Independent Maine Sen. Angus King whether the deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was beneficial to the US, Mattis answered affirmatively.

"Do you believe it's in our national security interests at the present time to remain in the JCPOA?" King asked, adding after a brief pause, "That's a yes-or-no question."

Mattis himself paused several seconds before answering, "Yes, senator, I do."

The defense secretary later elaborated, saying he supported a "rigorous review."

"If we can confirm that Iran is living by the agreement, if we can determine that this is in our best interest, then clearly we should stay with it," Mattis said . "I believe at this point in time, absent indications to the contrary, it is something the president should consider staying with."

Trump's hostility toward the deal — signed in 2015 by Iran, the US, Russia, France, Germany, China, and the UK — is longstanding. During his presidential campaign, Trump tarred the agreement as a "bad deal" for the US and vowed to rip it up upon taking office.

Trump has twice recertified the deal since taking office, as he is required to do every 90 days to keep Congress from reimposing sanctions. But his administration has agreed to other sanctions on Tehran, and Trump's rhetoric has signaled he's getting closer to scrapping the deal outright.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

He decision to recertify the deal a second time in mid-July only came "after hours of arguing with his top national security advisers, briefly upending a planned announcement as a legal deadline loomed," according to The New York Times.

In August, The Guardian reported that the Trump White House was pushing intelligence analysts to provide justification for declaring Iran in violation of the tenants of the deal. That pressure reportedly reminded some of the analysts involved of the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

"They told me there was a sense of revulsion. There was a sense of déjà vu," said Ned Price , a former CIA analyst who served as special adviser to Obama. "There was a sense of, 'We've seen this movie before.'"

Thomson Reuters

During Trump's address at the UN in late September, he again targeted Tehran , saying the country was a "rogue nation" and calling the nuclear deal "an embarrassment."

"It is time for the entire world to join us in demanding that Iran’s government end its pursuit of death and destruction," Trump said.

Trump is also out of step with nuclear inspectors, who have found no evidence Iran has violated the deal.

His stance also differs from that of other signatories, four of whom signed a statement that said, "Unilateral US action that jeopardized the JCPOA would be a grave mistake" and would harm US and European interests. Israeli officials, including a former national security adviser, have also called on Washington to preserve the deal.

Some in the White House, Pentagon, and State Department are reportedly preparing from Trump not to recertify the deal by the October 15 deadline. Should he send it back to Congress, Republicans could kill it with a simple majority vote. But there's no guarantee the GOP would get that, as some members have expressed reluctance to walk away from the agreement.

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Defense Secretary Jim Mattis testified Tuesday that the United States should remain in the Iran nuclear deal, as President Trump weighs whether to renew the controversial agreement ahead of an Oct. 15 deadline.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday the United States should consider staying in the Iran nuclear deal unless it were proven that Tehran was not abiding by the agreement or that it was not in the U.S. national interest to do so.

James Mattis said it was in the US national security interest to remain in the agreement during a Senate hearing, making it harder for Trump to withdraw

The US defense secretary, James Mattis, has backed the nuclear deal with Iran , saying it is in the interests of national security to maintain it, breaking with Donald Trump and potentially making it harder for the president to withdraw from the deal.

The timing and nature of Mattis’s remarks are particularly significant because Trump has threatened to withhold certification of the 2015 international agreement in a report to Congress due on 15 October . Under the relevant legislation, the administration has to certify whether Iran is in material breach of the agreement, or if the deal is not serving the national interest.

As President Donald Trump considers whether to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is working behind the scenes with Congress to head off the possibility of an international crisis ahead of the agreement's looming October 15 certification deadline, several US officials and Western diplomats told CNN.

Despite pressure from UK and France, US president expected to declare Tehran in violation of agreement but Senate could yet block reimposition of sanctions

European governments fear a concerted effort to persuade Donald Trump to continue to certify the Iran nuclear deal may have failed and are now looking for other ways to try to salvage the two year-old agreement.

European lobbying efforts are now focused on Congress which will have two months to decide – in the absence of Trump’s endorsement of the 2015 deal – whether to reimpose nuclear-related sanctions.

ZURICH (Reuters) - European countries will do their utmost to preserve a deal limiting Iran's nuclear program despite misgivings by U.S. President Donald Trump, a senior European Union diplomat said on Wednesday.

ZURICH (Reuters) - European countries will do their utmost to preserve a deal limiting Iran's nuclear program despite misgivings by U.S. President Donald Trump, a senior European Union diplomat said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say the future of the Iran nuclear deal may hinge on a face-saving fix for President Donald Trump so he doesn't have to recertify the Islamic republic's compliance with the accord every 90 days.

Several officials say the periodic reviews mandated by Congress have become such a source of embarrassment for Trump that his aides are seeking ways for him to avoid signing off on the accord without scuttling it entirely.

The president has called the agreement one of America's worst deals.

Officials say what Trump hates most, however, is a 2015 law requiring him to tell Congress every three months if Iran is meeting its promises. There are no easy fixes, however.

The officials weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will be presented with multiple options regarding the future of the Iran nuclear deal ahead of an Oct. 15 deadline to certify whether Tehran is complying with the pact, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Congress faces a possible fight over the future of the Iran nuclear agreement, European ambassadors and officials from President Barack Obama's administration are making their case for preserving the pact directly to U.S. lawmakers.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump plans to announce next week that he will decertify the Iran nuclear deal, saying it is not in the U.S. national interest and forwarding the issue to Congress to address, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump is expected to announce soon that he will decertify the landmark international deal to curb Iran's nuclear program, a senior administration official said on Thursday, in a step that could lead to renewed U.S. sanctions against Tehran.

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